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Embracing the Skyline

Before Basking Ridge, N.J.-based architect and designer Stephen Kowalski came into the picture, this northern New Jersey home blocked out its city and mountain views with an ornate and overdone design. Photographer: Peter Rymwid

“On the matter of what direction to pursue, I think the owners had much the same reaction to the existing space as I did and were fairly open ended as to what form the solution could take: something that is the converse of dreary, aged and closed-in,” said Kowalski. Photographer: Peter Rymwid

The industrial single-pour concrete countertops rest in the same family as the painted gray cabinetry and slate-like tile floor below. Photographer: Peter Rymwid

The tall storage separating the more formal dining area from the rest of the volume is composed of the same primary materials of bamboo veneer painted gray, with black metal pulls and concealed hardware. Photographer: Peter Rymwid

On the kitchen side, the tall cabinetry conceals two large Sub-Zero over-and-under-style refrigerators with freezer drawers. Photographer: Peter Rymwid

“The pendants above the eat-in island were chosen for their own eclecticism,” said Kowalski. “They exist somewhere between the heavy industrial timbers above and the minimalistic planes and prisms below, remaining unobtrusive by their use of geometric wire frames instead of solid surfaces.” Photographer: Peter Rymwid

The fixtures also added a pop of color with the red chord, which was repeated in the custom painting of the bar stool seat tops. Photographer: Peter Rymwid

“This might seem anticlimactic, and you don’t get quite the sense of it in photographs, but just the absurdity of how huge those islands are – walking between these monoliths – that’s at least, if I had to point to something specific, what amused me the most,” said Kowalski. Photographer: Peter Rymwid